


Dust

by inherentlyapparently (thundxrboy)



Series: Upgrades [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 08:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundxrboy/pseuds/inherentlyapparently





	Dust

It always started with an explosion.  
Lucy shielded her eyes from the blast, heat and bits of debris stinging her arms.  
“Be careful where you’re aiming, dumbass!” Gray shouted. A jet of cold ice shot from his palm and froze the smaller machines around him.  
“Well maybe if you would do something helpful I could get a better shot!” Natsu shouted back. Another ball of flame engulfed the hulking robot in front of him. A blue laser cleared the smoke and threw him against the wall.  
“Natsu” Lucy cried. In a flash, an armored Erza launched herself at the robot. The clanging and grinding of metal was almost a relief from the explosions and shattering ice. Gashes were being torn in the metal as Erza dashed around, nearly flying with her swords.  
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Natsu called back. He stood and wiped the dust off his clothes.  
“Well we decidedly are not.” Gray called. He kneeled to the ground and spears of ice shot up under more of the grunts. Several of them began to detonate as they were held in the air. Gray’s tech-suit flashed and an icy dome formed over him as the machines exploded. Natsu tackled Lucy to the ground as metal flew at them.  
A horrendous creaking noise came from the other side of the room and Lucy looked to see Erza barely standing under the weight of the robot’s two razor s sharp arms, her swords looking like needles in comparison.  
The robot now had rents and gashes in it’s armor, wires and hardware sticking out haphazardly. Natsu smiled and leapt up. The vents in his arms began to glow a bright orange and he dashed forward. Lucy gritted her teeth and pulled out one of her capsules. Two horns were carved in to the side and she popped it in her mouth. A moment later, her armor shifted around her. She felt surges of energy through her arms and legs and the pain in her ankle faded. A great axe formed in her hand and the metal closed around her face.  
“Come ‘ere you big bastard.” She howled, and leapt forward. The strength in her legs propelled her through the air past Natsu, flames now dancing across his fingertips. His face lit up as he saw Lucy sailing by him. As she hit the ground, she was already running and with another leap slammed in to the front of the robot, throwing it back off Erza. She swung her greataxe down in to one of the gashes in its armor with a roar. Metal and wires flew as Lucy whaled on the creature, Taurus’ strength rampaging through her. The robot wheeled around, trying to bat Lucy of of it, but the blades glanced off her armor.  
A blast from behind the robot sent it tumbling forward and flames licked around it. Lucy paused for a moment as the ground approached, but pillars of ice burst from the ground and slammed in to the sides of the robot, breaking it’s fall and crushing the metal. The robot began to jerk and spasm as Lucy looked in to the now demolished interior. She reached inside and grabbed a handful of wires that were still connected and yanked them out. Sparks flew and the robot’s arms began to flail. She reached in and pulled out more, causing the legs to buckled. She took her axe and heaved it towards the largest bunch of wires she could see, a crushing sound coming from where she struck, and as she did, the roaring whir of the robot shuddered to a halt and the arms fell limp to the sides. It’s metal body began to fall forward again.  
“Oi, Lucy!” Gray shouted. She felt a hand on her arm and looked to see Gray gliding by on a bridge of ice and he yanked her off. The robot fell behind them as they slid on to the rocky ground.They both stayed on the ground for a moment, breathing hard.  
Natsu walked over and stood over the two of them.  
“I could’a done that too. I was just on the other side.” He huffed, crossing his arms.  
“Sure you could’ve, flame brain.” Gray growled, sitting up. He looked around and saw Erza standing in front of the robot, swords sheathed. “But I guess you two took care of the rest?” He asked. Natsu grinned.  
“You bet your ass we did.” He gave a thumbs up, his hands still slightly glowing. Gray rolled his eyes.  
“Well our girl here took down the big one pretty handily.” Gray said and clapped her on the back. Lucy nodded, still breathing hard. Her armor receded back and the strength she had faded leaving her feeling completely exhausted. Her axe was gone. “I haven’t seen that one yet. You should use it more often.” He said. Lucy grimaced.  
“I would, but it… it makes me a bit more tired than usual.” She struggled to push herself up.  
“Oh come on, Gray probably just made you hit the ground too hard.” Natsu said with a laugh before his face turned serious. “But don’t push yourself too hard if that’s the case.” Gray had been about to say something but instead nodded silently.  
“Hey, you three, come take a look at this.” Erza called. Lucy turned to look and couldn’t see the fighter any more. A moment later, her head popped out of the hole Lucy had made in the robot. “It’s another one of those crystals.” She said. At this, Natsu and Gray scrambled to their feet and rushed to the robot. Natsu paused and rushed back to Lucy and picked her up.  
“Can’t forget you now can we.” He said with a smile and jogged over to the robot.  
“I can stand, Natsu.” Lucy said.  
“Sure you can.” He replied. He didn’t set her down until they were with Gray and Erza. Now that it was calmer, Lucy could see the intricate wiring and layout inside the robot. Everything was much more organized than at first glance, even with half of the wires ripped out. Most interestingly, the cluster of wires that Lucy had attempted to slash apart with her axe were all mostly intact. What had been destroyed, however, was what had been a large, red gem.  
“That’s the third one we’ve seen.” Natsu said.  
“Not to mention the biggest.” Gray murmured. Erza nodded in response.  
“Someone has to be making these, right? And I don’t mean the robots, but these gems specifically. We don’t just see these things every day.” Lucy said. The others paused for a moment and Erza nodded.  
“It’s rare for these beasts to get much in terms of an upgrade. I’m afraid it would only be due to an innovator among their creator’s ranks. However, we do not yet know what these crystals are or how they are made.” Erza said.  
“Well why don’t we just ask the asshole making them? That should sort things right out.” Natsu said, flames flickering in his mouth.  
“Yeah, great idea, lead the way why wouldn’t you?” Gray said. Natsu paused for a moment before glaring at him.  
“Relax, you two. However, Gray is correct Natsu. If we knew where these things came from, we wouldn’t have been dealing with these problems for as long as we have.” Erza said.  
“Then we just need to find out where they live.” Natsu said.  
“And how do you propose we do that?” Gray asked. Natsu glared at him again.  
“We need to go back to the city.” Lucy said. “We need to find who’s making these robots, obviously, but what’s a whole lot easier to pinpoint is finding someone selling stupidly large red crystals.” The other three looked at her for a moment.  
“That… is a great idea.” Erza said.  
“Well, yeah, that’s what I meant.” Natsu said.  
“Sure you did, flame brain.” Gray said. His suit retracted back, revealing his torso.  
“Would you ever just leave that on so the rest of us don’t get continually scarred for life?” Natsu groaned.  
“Oh well I’m sorry that some of us have automatic cooling systems hardwired in to their gut.” Gray snapped.  
“Well I’m sorry that the rest of us couldn’t, ya know, make some ice for you.” Natsu taunted.  
“Guys,” Erza said. The two turned away from each other. Erza sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Anyways, we need to take as much of this back with us as possible. Maybe Levy or the Master know something about what these things are.” She began to collect some of the shards in the pouch at her waist and Lucy soon followed. Natsu and Gray went to go pick up a larger piece. Lucy watched as they struggled to pull it out from where it was embedded in the metal plates. After a moment, it jerked out and the two strained to keep it in their hands. Lucy raised an eyebrow.  
“You sure you guys can carry that?” She asked.  
“What do ya take us for, a couple of nerds?” Natsu scoffed. Gray shook his head.  
“We’ll be fine, Lucy.” Gray said. They stood for a moment in the battered ruins of the outskirts. The houses around them had all but crumbled away, the more permanent metal systems standing as ghostly shells in the hazy light.  
“Well,” Erza said. “Let’s get back to base.”


End file.
